New concerns emerge after Anchorage’s terminated sleep-off center contractor departs

The company that until last month operated Anchorage’s sleep-off center and an associated van service failed to report injuries as required and rehired a worker fired for mistreating a client, municipal health officials say.

Securitas Inc. held the contract since 2016 to operate the Anchorage Safety Center as well as the Anchorage Safety Patrol van service that transports intoxicated or otherwise incapacitated people found on city streets to the center.

Citing the company’s inability to provide consistent van services and concerns for patient safety, the Anchorage Health Department terminated Securitas’ contract at the end of September and brought on a temporary provider under an emergency contract.

On Thursday, health officials told the Daily News that the municipality withheld $189,245 in contract payments this year because Securitas did not fulfill obligations, including several involving new safety issues brought to light this week.

The company, which was paid about $1.18 million through August, won’t face any additional penalties from the municipality aside from losing the contract, a health department spokeswoman said.

The company’s annual contract was originally worth more than $2 million. Officials now say it could cost twice that amount to operate the van service and center, which is located next to the Anchorage Correctional Complex.

Securitas is a multinational, multibillion-dollar private security firm with more than 400 branch locations in the United States. A company spokesperson did not return a request for comment this week.

During the Anchorage Assembly’s Public Health Committee meeting Wednesday, acting health department director Kimberly Rash laid out a timeline of missteps by Securitas not previously shared with the public.

The company rehired an employee at the root of a December incident that brought Securitas under the city’s scrutiny, Rash said. The male employee, who has not been identified, was reportedly seen pushing an inebriated man out of the sleep-off center in a wheelchair and dumping him in the snow.

Securitas had not reported the incident to the health department and municipal officials learned about it through the media, she said.

The involved employee was fired after investigations from the health department and Securitas, Rash said.

A health department manager monitoring the center over the summer spotted the same employee working at the sleep-off center again, according to Michelle Fehribach, a department spokeswoman. Program managers visited the center daily or every other day as the situation with Securitas deteriorated, Rash said.

“When AHD was aware that that person was back at the Safety Center, AHD requested that Securitas terminate that employee,” Fehribach said.

Program managers also discovered that injuries were not being reported to the department, as required by the contract, Fehribach said.

Securitas was required to report to the health department when a “client is discharged to APD, client is discharged to AFD, fight with physical contact between clients on the floor (whether or not staff is involved), a van is pulled to balance ratio, any injury to staff or clients, and any other instance in which a supervisor deems a written report to be necessary,” she said.

Securitas also failed to provide proper training to new staff and has been unable to provide proof of training to the health department, Rash said.

[City walks back decision to abruptly end contract for Anchorage Safety Patrol after pushback]

Securitas, which struggled to provide adequate staffing, is facing a series of lawsuits including one filed last month by an operations manager seeking payment for what he claims is unpaid overtime.

A woman who was brought to the Anchorage Safety Center in July 2021 said she was sexually assaulted by a Securitas employee working at the center, according to that lawsuit filed at the end of June. The family of a man who died at the hospital after arriving at the sleep-off center unconscious in January 2022 filed a wrongful death lawsuit in June 2022.

The municipality in September awarded SALA Medical an emergency contract to provide services for the next six months. The contract cost $2.8 million — significantly more than the $2 million Securitas has received annually for services during the last seven years.

The health department has accepted proposals for a permanent provider, but it will likely take several more months before one is selected.

SALA Medical staff shadowed Securitas before they took over Sept. 30. So far the transition has gone smoothly, Rash said.